A Band of Misfits:The Barenziah Stones
by Poragon
Summary: A small band of "shady adventurers" have their eyes set on the ultimate prize, the Barenziah Stones!
1. Odd beginings

_The band of misfits sat around the campfire, their thought wandering into the future. Each one thought of a diffrent path to take, but the group knew that a single one must be chosen._

**Four days before**

"Let's go," whispered a male figure, whom stood around six and a half feet and had a mess of curly brown hair upon his head. "We have to head out fast, before the gaurd can get us!"

"Idiot... We're in disguise! Running would only serve to alert them of us," replied back another, this one female. She stood at about six foot, and claimed a impressive head of black hair.

The two looked around, wary of anyone hearing their conversation. They shuffled silently to the nearest gate and asked for the gaurd to open it.

"Sorry travlers, the entire city of Whiterun is on lock down, no one goes in, no one goes out," replied the guard. "The Barenziah Stone has been stolen right out of the hands of the Jarl himself, he has ordered a complete stop to all trade and traffic until it is found."

The man and woman nodded their thanks to the guard and headed behind the shop, "War Madin."

"See Amza? They alredey discovered its absence, if we had ran like I suggested we would have gotten out of here," the man raged in a hushed tone to the woman.

"Really Paragon? You're going to blame me for this? If we had done my plan, going inbetween the watches of Dragon's Keep, we would have had much more time to get out!" Amza whispered back.

"Ok... we messed up bad, but I know how to get out, follow me!" Paragon replied back as he lept across a few upturned stones. The two headed across the town, to the upper level until they reached the shrine of Talos.

"What's with crazy?" asked Amza to Paragon as they walked past the preaching maniac who shouted to the world of Talos's great glory and honor. Paragon shrugged her off as he pointed to a nearby pond, sat on a bench, and motioned for her to come closer.

"Ok, this pond has a water intake form a nearby stream, if we can hurry, we will be able to swim up the pipe and exit the city," Paragon explained to her as the two sat inconspiculously on the bench. Amza nodded, and the two stood up, and silently walked into the water.

Paragon was the first to reach the entrance to the pipe, he hit the sides of the grate with his knife. Luckly, the grate was rusted from mis-treatment and came off cleanly. He looked behind his shoulder, and gave Amza a nod. The two swam up the pipe, their vision blurring from the oxygen deprevation. Just as Paragon started to belive his information wrong, they popped out of the pipe. He swam for the surface, finally taking a deep breath of air.

"Paragon, we aren't in any stream..." Amza commented as the two climbed onto the bank of the small pond they were in.

"No kidding," Paragon replied as he look around. The area they were in seemed to be a cave, a very large one. No sign of humans, save a skeleton, could be seen. Paragon bent over the skeleton and observered it... There were odd stab wounds visable on the bone, which would require a very strong creature to cause such an injury.

"Para, I think I found a way out of here," shouted Amza, pointing to a high ledge where a ray of sunshine poked through.

"Nice, you have uses beyond making sandw-" before he could finish the comment, a stone thrown by Amza hit Paragon square in the chest. "Ow, that hurt you know."

"Oh I know, infact, that was the point of it." Amza winked at him as she delivered this comment. The two grummbled some more at eachother, then they began the painstaking task of climbing the cave's walls.

The two finally rolled over the top, near panting in exauhtion. They stood up and took a good look around.

"Oh no... I think I know where we are now," Paragon choked out, looking at the massive amounts of chaurus eggs before him. The two imeddiatly pulled out their daggers, and made attempts to not make any noise.

They made it out of the egg room without event, and found themselves in an impressive cavern. Its roof had to be atleast forty feet up, and the ground had mushrooms with tuffs of grass scattered around. The most noticable feature, however, was the chaurus that turned around, and was staring at them.

"What did I do to you Talos?" Amza whined as she met the gaze of the beast.

The chaurus was more than please at this revalation. It lunged at the two, nearly taking out Paragon as he and Amza stumbled out of the way of its deadly stinger. It landed, did a perfect turn around yet again, and resumed its attack, this time at a much more close and deadly range.

Paragon knew that he and Amza were in trouble. Chaurus's were known to be leathal, a single hit from that thing's claws could rip through hide armour and into flesh. With that lovely mental image keeping both he and Amza on their best gaurd, the two dodged and weaved their way to the oppisited end of the chamber, where a man-made ramp led to the upper levels of the cave.

No communication between the two was needed. They both shot up the ramp, chaurus close behind. Amza and Paragon ran through the halls, blindly turnning and weaving throughout the cave. They ran past a waterfall, and Amza breifly thought about returning later to see if any treasure was stashed under there. That thought was inturupted as the two took a corner, only to hit a wall.

Paragon looked up, horrified at the fate that lay before him. He attempted to open his eyes, but no amount of pleading form his brain could get them to listen.

"Hey, Para, its gone you know..." Amza commented. Paragon opened his eyes, and to his relief Amza was right. The chaurus had stopped following them, probobly a long time ago.

"Well then, why don't we get out of here before more come." Paragon suggested. He had no want to meet another one of those beasts. Amza nodded and the two looked around for a possible way out. Paragon took a peek behind one the the corners, only to see a camp with a fire!

"Amza, try to be quiet, we have company!" Paragon fiercly whispered as he pointed at the camp. "Falmers."

Amza looked carefully at the ruddemntary camp that sprawled before them. Primitive tools and weapons were scattered across the ground, yet none of the creatures who made and use them could be seen. She pondered this new threat for a moment, and dicided that the best course of action would be to cover more ground and find an exit, ASAP. Amza motioned for Paragon to split up. He gave her a nod, and faded into the shadows.

**Amza**

Amza took the path into the Falmer camp, taking care not to make noise while she searched for an exit. She crawled/hopped her way into the edges of the camp, then stopped for a while to make quick observations. The first thing she noticed was that the camp was empty. No noise, no Falmer, just a lit fire. She pondered this for a bit, then thinking nothing of it continued forward.

Life must hate her. Amza was climbing, yet again, up a slippery slope. She had spotted a possible exit, that once again was on a slop well above thirty feet up the wall. She grunted with effort, no matter how much she practiced she never got better at climbing.

"_Man, I wish Paragon was here, atleast I would have someone to complain to," _She thought to herself, sturggling with the pain building up in her mussles.

She finally rolled over the top, and she exhaled in releif. She got up on her feet, and took a nice look around. This cavern was smalled by far than the last chamber she was in, but this one had tools and weapons across its floor as well. Amza knelt down and examined the tools. A frown came to her face when she accidently griped one of the blades, and blood formed upon her hand.

_"Not my blood..." _she realised in horror. These weapons had wet blood on them.

**Paragon**

Paragon nodded as Amza gave him the signal to split up. He understood her reasons, they needed to find that exit. He silently crept away into the shadows keeping the the wall.

He approached the waterfall they had passed ealier, this time he had the luxary of stopping to examine it. He took a look over it, recognizing a few tell-tale signs of a hidden entrance. Glancing around, he approched a odd poked-out stone, and gave it a twist. The stone fell out, and a few ropes let loose a rock that completed a staircase.

_"Perfect,"_ he thought as he acsended the rock stairs. _"This has to be a way out of here, or atleast a path to the exit."_

At the top of the waterfall a small hallway, lined with torches, marked a clear path. Paragon took a few steps ahead to peek around the corner. He grined. About twenty feet infront of him, a ladder lead up into a hole in the cave ceiling.

"This'll do," He stated to himself as he looked at the top of the ladder. "Now I just need to find Amza."

**Amza**

Scuttling made her aware. Amza dived behind the nearest rock, an arrow whistling through the air just to the side of her head. She clutched her iron dagger and took a peek above the rock. Two falmer stood, one with an arrow in one hand, bow in the other. Amza dashed out of the rock cover, and slashed the bow from the falmer's hand.

The other falmer was supprised. Its mind was to simple for him to comprehend why this prey was fighting back. It raised its hand, armed with a short sword, and slashed down on the meat.

Amza cried out, while she was disarming one falmer, the other had hit her shoulder. She dove back and stumbled across the chamber to one of the maze-like hallways. Tripping repeatedly, she walked/fell her way along the hall. Upon reaching what appeared to be a storage room, she colasped. Glancing at her wound, which at a guess she would say it was an inch deept, she moaned.

_"No major veins hit... yet," _she thought as she lay there, incapasitated. A few thoughts went through her head as she began to black out. _"Why did I rush the falmer... where is paragon... para..."_

**Paragon**

Paragon knew that Amza was in trouble. A dead falmer lie on the ground still bleeding out of a large cut on its wrist. Its green blood mingled with red blood. Human blood. Paragon practicly flew down the hall ways, following the trail of blood smeared onto the wall.

Flying around a corner, Paragon hit a humanoid object, and looked up. A suprised falmer met his gaze. Para jumped up with his dagger, and slashed the beasts's throat serveral times. The falmer had not a chance to yell for help before it drown in its own blood. Paragon glanced around, a few details cathing his eye. More falmer footprints, heading in a simliar direction as him. Following the blood trail.

Paragon found himself yet again rushing down the halls, desperatly hoping to catch up with the patrols before they reached Amza. He met another falmer, this one with a friend. He pushed the two aside, reciving a small nick on his chest as he resumed his sprint.

The blood train led him to a storage room, filled with rubbishing lying about and slightly opened coffins, which the falmer were using as make-shift chests. Paragon franticly searched for Amza, but to no avail.

_"You promised her, you promised him," _Paragon thought to himself. _"You need to cool down, and think."_

Para made another, slightly less insane, look around the room. This time he noticed a symbol on one of the coffins. He smiled. Written in white chalk on one of the covers were the words "_No Sandwhich."_

Paragon removed the lid of the coffin, and felt the dismay rise yet again. Amza lay inside, pale as a vampire with blood pooling around the coffin's base. He heaved her out of it, taking care not to disrupt her injury for fear of causing her pain.

_"One incapisated, a single dagger, about twelve falmer, and no way out," _Paragon contemplated upon his situation. _"I've been in worse... we could possibly use some of this stored stuff!"_

Paragon checked on Amza again, and seeing her the best she could be at this moment, began to search the storage. He quickly found a few items of use. One wrap of linen, which he used to bandage Amza's wound to the best of his ablility. A couple items seemed useless at first, but he rembered an old trick that he had been taught. A jar of dwarven oil mixed with crushed charcoal made an excellent explosive. He stuffed a linen fuse in it, and put it onto a shelf next to a torch.

The next few items were of more importance. A few beartraps found on a dead hunter provided a nice defence for the main, and only, entrance. A potion of health found in a coffin assureed Paragon that Amza would be safe for a while.

The footsteps were the only warning. Paragon grabbed the torch and oil bomb, and went to the side room. Peeking around the corner he watched as the first falmer entered the room.

The falmer looked around. Sniffing the air it moved into the storage. It regreated it. The two falmer fell into the bear trap, nearly snapping their legs. Paragon dashed in from their, stabing and slashing at vital organs. The falmer let out serveral cries, but Paragon figured that the others were alredey on their way. He knelt down and picked up the sword and prepared for the next wave.

Yelling was heard, the falmer were comming. With the bear traps re-armed, Paragon lit the oil bomb and threw it. The falmer ground was screaming. The first four died from the shockwave, two more set on fire. Three were stopped by the bear traps.

Paragon drew out the sword of the fallen falmer and engaged the remaining falmer. The first one fell fast, its throat slit while it paniced. Two remained, these ones focused on Paragon. They charged him, slashing wildly. Paragon parried one blow, and dodged the other. Paragon struck one, leaving a satisfying gash on its chest. The stisfaction was short, however. The injuried falmer fell back, but the un-injuried one lunged forward. With his sword arm still extended, Paragon couldn't parry.

The blow hit his arm, the falmer swords not hard enough to completely peirce his hide armour. It still hurt ,though, and it cut some of his flesh. He lept back, and switched his sword to the other hand. Being ambidexterious has its perks.

Paragon lunged yet again, parrying one blow and sliding his sword down the Falmer's sword until the blade hit its hand. The falmer yelled out, and cradled its hand to its chest. Paragon took no time in slashin across its neck.

He ducked, the second falmer had regained its bearings and damn near took his head off. Paragon turned around, and brought his sword with him. The sword hit the falmer in the side of the chest, dropping it to its knees. Paragon then raised his sword, and brought it down upon its neck, a quick end.

No more footsteps echoed down the hall. Paragon figured that the next patrol was a logn ways away. Surveying the battle feild, Paragon found a few potions the had dropped from the falmer. He picked up and drank a few of the health, saving a couple stamina and a health for Amza.

Para went back to the side room. Amza lay on the linen wrap he had set her on, un-touched. He peeled off her bandage to check the wound. It was serious. The blade had almost touched one of the arteries, and had done damage to her joint. He opened her mouth and forced her to drink the potions. After a megar amount had been sucesfully poured down her throat, Paragon heaved her over his shoulder and began the trek back to the waterfall.

"I feel like hell..." Amza stuttered out as she regained consiousness. Every mussles ached. The worst part about it was the fact that she was being carried, yet again, by Paragon. She rolled over and moaned as she aceppted this embarresment.

"Hey, you would have felt worse if I hadn't saved you," Paragon commented as the two walked through the halls. "Those falmer really wanted you, I guess they needed a wahsing machine."

It took her a few moments to recognize the hurmor, which she did not find hurmorous.

"You're lucky that I'm to injured to kick your ass," Amza complained as she gave a half-hearted effort to hit Para on the head.

Paragon chuckled at her efforts and continued on. The two chatted a bit, until Amza fell asleep. Paragon reached the waterfall staircase without incident. It appeared to him that his luck had changed.

Paragon breifly pondered on how to get both of them up the ladder, then dicided that he would carry Amza up. A short struggle later, the two of them were at the top ladder. A small clearing with a few tents and a un-lit fire were before them.

Paragon gave yet another smile. His luck was changing. He set Amza down on one of the tent beds, and lit the fire. There was alredey a stack of firewood, so he need not go and get more. The warm fire lit both body and soul. Amza would be safe and he was alive to see another day. That was all he cared about.

He set himself into one of the beds. He drifted into a deep sleep, and he enjoyed it.


	2. Promises

Amza woke up, still feeling the burn of her injury from yesterday. If anything, the pain had gotten worse. She forced herself up and gave a glance around . They seemed to be in a camp of some sort, she figured a old hunt camp that Paragon found. Upon thinking of him, Amza darted her eyes twards the half circle of tents. Paragon lay in one of them, in a deep sleep. Amza smiled, for it was not often that Paragon found himself able to relax and get a good rest.

Other thoughts filled her mind. She dug into her cloak and pulled out an odd stone. She gazed at it, unaware of its purpose, yet knowing of its great power.

_"Was it worth risking our lives just for this?" _she asked herself. _"He thought so..."_

_ Amza looked up at the great man, her father. She smiled seeing his face again after such a long day. He picked her up and tossed her in the air, before saftely catching her. He would always keep her safe._

_ "Daddy, what's this?" She asked one day, poking at the stone that he kept close to his chest by means of an iron chain._

_ "A stone sweety, a very important one," he awnsered. "I was given the task of gaurding it a long time ago by a friend."_

_ "What friend?" she asked, ever so curious in her youth. _

_ "One that I hope you will never meet. He's a good man, but the terms of our agreement I hope will never be forfilled. Now, enough with the questions, off to bed my little one."_

_ The two would hop into bead together, until Amza fell asleep. Her dad would get out and do whatever chores were to be done around the house once Amza fell asleep._

_ "Dad, the stone of yours really looks stupid," Amza complained as she and her father got redey to attend the ball at Dragon's Reach._

_ "We've been through this, I'm not taking this stone off," he yet again reminded her. Teenagers could be such a pain._

_ Their bickering done, the two went arm in arm up the hill, and across the north side of town. Amza always was impressed by Dragon's Reach. Its impressive history, fantastic design, and athstetic beauty made it her favorite building in all of Whiterun._

_ The ball was grand. The Jarl and his servents could make a party go. The food was plentiful, and for most the drink was free. Amza had the time of her life that night, the one night she would rember with perfect clarity for all her years. __Not for a good reason._

_ Her father looked in horror. The music stopped and the people went silent. A single man walked through the halls, in his usual hide armour and leather hat. A few guards went to approach him, but Amza's father beat them to him._

_ "Why, has it happened?" Amza's father almost pleadingly asked him._

_ "Yes, I did all that I could, but I can do no more." The man said in reply. "I'll need your stone, and you know what you need to do."_

_ The man begged with the stranger for a few more moments, then gave up. He walked through the crowds of confused people, and approached his daughter._

_ "Amza, no matter what happens, I'll be with you, OK?" he told her, trying to hokld back tears. "Now, go with this man, he will make sure that you're safe."_

_ "Where are you going daddy?" she asked, completely unaware of the seriousness of the situation. Her father gave no reply. He only walked out the hall and disappeared from sight. _

_Amza ran up to the entrance of the hall, followed by the strange man. _

_ "Keep her safe, Demage," the father yelled back to the man. "I'll insure the message sprea-"_

_He was cut short. An arrow shot through the __air. It hit Amza's father. The riot that soon ensued blocked Amza's attempts at trying to get to her father._

_ "Dwellers..." the odd man stated, horrified. He picked up Amza in his arms, annd ran for the gate. _

_ The fight seemed one-sided. The Dwellers, armed with their glass weapons and scaled armour, were murdering innocents and slaughtering the guards. A few archers on the roofs, these wearing black leather garbs and hoods, shot into the crowd. It was a blood bath._

_ The odd man carried Amza through the painc, dodging a few blows, and blocking some with his bracers. He reached the gate, the fighting currently did not reach this far._

_ "Amza, stay here, I'll be back for you OK? I have to go and get my son, you two will __h__aev fun together. Don't worry. Please," __He told her, almost throwing her into a small hole and covering her with nearby twigs and leaves. He took off, and went around the wall. Amza did not see him again._

_ The next morning Amza got up. She went to the most familar place she knew, her home. The streets were lined with corpses. Amza threw up several times passing by a known friend or a familar face. Then she got to her home. Atleast, the flaming ruin that was left of it. She fell unto her kness, and sobbed. She was only eight-teen, and now her life was ruined. She looked at a nearby knife, thinking of ending all the pain. It would be so fast, so painless._

_ She reached twards the rusted blade, examineing it in her hand. She flinched a little when she almost dropped it, the blade digging in and cutting her hand. _

_ She made the disision. She raised the blade up to her neck, with every inch of movement she made she sobbed more. Finally she felt the cold metal against her neck. She thought of her father, who she know believed dead. Of the odd man she was left with and the other lifes lost. Her life seemed so insignificant, so futile and helpless. She swiped with the blade._

"Amza, what's wrong?" A concerned voice asked her. "You're crying."

Amza opened her eyes, searching for the soruce of the question. Across from her Paragon sat near the fire, with a puzzled look on his face. He motioned for her to sit down, at that point she realised that he was right. She was crying.

"Para, I just was thinking... about..." she couldn't complete the sentance. Even now, the pain of the event was overwhelming.

"I can give a good guess as to what, no need to give me a detailed description Amza," Paragon said softly. "I wouldn't blame you for crying, it was a horrible thing for a child of your age."

Amza didn't know why, but this set her off.

"What do you know Paragon! You never had a childhood! I had my father taken away, my peaceful life ripped as I stared, helplessly staring at the corpses of my friends lying mangled on the streets!" she yelled, clearly enraged with Paragon.

"I didn't mean it that way, I ment t-" he was cut short. Amza fell into a sitting postion, the tears yet again flooding her face as she thought about what she just did.

"I'm sorry Paragon... I didn't mean it. I'm just.." she yet again trailed off this sentance.

"It's ok Amza... I really do know how it feels. I was there.

_Paragon was never a ordinary child. His father was mainly to blame for that. His entire life was spent traveling from place to place, running from the guard, and learning odd fightin tips from diffrent people. You could say he never hung around the right crowd for a kid his age, but that would probobly lead you to get posioned._

_ This day, his father was worried. Paragon and his dad were never close, but they were open with eachother. If they were being chased by assassins and he asked his father what was wrong, he would tell him. This day though, his father refused to tell him what was wrong._

_ "Dad, just tell me, having the knowlage of our enemy will allow me to prepare for them." Paragon replied, wishing __for hiw father to just be outright with him._

_ "Soon son, we need to time this correctly," he replied. "We're approaching Whiterun, put up your hood."_

_ The father and son pulled their hoods up. The carridge driver stopped, and the two paid their fee. Standing at the feet of the gates, they entered the city._

_ "Son, stay out of sight, warn me of any incomming dwellers," he whispered to his son, trying to not attract attention from the locals._

_ "Dwellers!?" Paragon said in a hushed tone, sounding like a hissing cat. "Father, this is serious. We need to get out of here!"_

_ "Do you think I don't know that? If this bissnuess wasn't so important I would run clear to Hammerfell with you," his father relplied, sounding rushed. "Now, get out of sight, and __rember the whistle signal._

_ Paragon nodded, knowing what they were up against now put him on complete alert mode. He ran up to a nearby buidling, a in a few quick leaps climbed onto the top. Burrowing himself into the hay on top of it, he made himself a scout outpost. He stood up, and taking a few steps back, made a run twards the gap inbetween the roof he was on and the one ahead of him._

_ The guards yelled up at him, and Paragon gave them a glob of mud to the face for their troubles. He continued to leap across the roofs, until he reached the far west side of the town. Here __there were many rocks, prefect for a small base. Paragon made a lean-to under one of the rocks, and began his new-city routine. He walked around aimlessly for awhile, listening to all of the local gossip. He then very stealthly made his way over to the food stands where he stole several sweetrolls. His favorite. It was always fun watching a paniced shop owner complain to a guard over losing a sweetroll._

_ Late in the evening he dicided that he had gathered enough local gossip. He headed back to his lean-to and settled down into a watch. Climbing up onto a nearby rock, he was able to see all of Whiterun except the very top level where Dragon's Reach stood. Hours past without incident. Paragon started to wonder on why his father was worried. If the Dwellers were to strike, surely they wouldn't do so in a town. It just seemed too peacefull. Too peacfull._

_ Paragon didn't see it comming. A sudden hit to his back sent him sprawling on the ground. His attack was upon him, slashing at him with an iron sword. Paragon had seen combat before, however. He dodged to one side while taking out a scroll from his pack. He got back on his feet, and before his attacker could yet again swing, he opened the scroll and let loose the magic. His attacked fell, paralyzed from the magic that had orginated from a scroll. __Paragon walked over to him, and slit his throat. He needed to die, no guilt in that._

_ Paragon got up to alert his father, but it was too late. The city was in riot. In the few seconds Paragon had been busy, the Dwellers had struck. From the inside. Paragon watched as seemingly normal civilians took out daggers and stabbed their friends in the back. From a few of the buildings, armed troops rushed out, taking out everyone in their path. An archer was the first to fire though, taking out a man standing outside Dragon's Reach. Dragon's Reach... that's where Paragon's father was right now, and that's where he needed to go._

_Paragon rushed through the streets weaving in and out looking for his father. He spotted him near the main gate, running twards the shop area. Paragon met with him near the inn._

_ "Come with me son, we have to go!" his father told him. Paragon nodded, and the two prepared to sprint to the main entrance. An arrow put an end to those plans. Paragon yelled otu in pain as an arrow struck him in the calf, rendering him unable to move. _

_ "Help me father!" he cried out, hoping for a rescuing hand. His father grabbed him and pulled him up, lending an arm for support. The two hobbled to the "War Madin" shop until Paragon gave out._

_ "We must keep going son!" Paragon's father yelled. _

_ "Im sorry dad, I just can't!" Paragon yelled in reply. "I'm not as strong as you... Demage."_

_ "Don't use my first name Paragon. We know that is a sacred thing, only to be said when..." his father trailed off. "No. That time will not come for a long while. __I'll go and help the towns folk, I need you to watch someone. Little girl, black hair, deep blue eyes. She's at the entrance." _

_ Paragon nodded and his father cast a quick healing spell on him. The two parted ways as Paragon half crawled/walked his way to the entrance. He didn't make it. The pain was too much. _

_He just wanted to make it... He just wanted to make his father proud._

_ Poragon woke up, and imediattly got up. The wound on his calf was healed, the magic had done its work over the night. He looked around, almost forgetting what had happend. His memory came back. He ran for the gate, he must find the girl._

_ All he found was an empty hole. It was the perfect hidding palce, that and the packed ground on the bottem of it gave a good indication of her presence there at one point. He looked around. The footprints on the ground showed that someone had been running from or by the hole recently. Paragon followed them._

_ He found her at the ruins of some house. She held an iron knife in her hand, and from the looks of it she had bad intents. Paragon ran up to her, and right as she made the movement to end her life, grabbed the blade __from her hand._

_ She looked up at him. Why did he make her stop? Why did he not let her end it all, all the misery all the pain... He must want her to feel it! He must be with them!_

_ "Are you alrig-" Paragon couldn't finish that sentance. A swift hit to the gut made him choke on his own bile as it rose._

_ "Why did you save me!? Why did you let me live!? I just wanted to be back with my dad, I wanted to not feel I wanted... I..." she stopped talking and proceeded to start crying uncontrollably into a very confused, worried, and awkwawrd Paragon._

_ Paragon was confused worried and awkward. He had never seen somonebody cry before, the exception being whil having to dig arrows out of his fathers limbs. He patted her on the back a few times, before picking her up in his two arms. She made no attempt to stop him, so he just carried on. His next objective was to find his father. He was probobly hiding somewhere, tending his wounds._

_ Paragon walked across the town, heading up twards Dragon's Reach. He reached the last step and saw a sight he never thought he would ever see. His father on the ground. Dead. Paragon dropped Amza, running up to his dad._

_ "Father, are you ok? Father..." Paragon said these words not unlike a beggar._

_ "I am here my son... Though, I fear I may not be soon," his father replied weakly. "Listen to me, get the girl and the stones..."_

_ "I know father, but the stones, what are they?" Paragon asked his dad._

_ "The stones... I've told you the legends. When put together they will make a better world. In what way I do not know, but we must do it... The dwellers don't want us to, that is why they stop it."_

_his father choked out. "Promise me one thing. In my real name... Promise me that you'll take my responsiblity, my promise. Keep the girl safe."_

_ "I promise fath- Demage." Paragon swore._

_ "I have trust in you Paragon. Keep her safe and gather the st-" Demage was cut short, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he lived no more._

_ Paragon made the symbol of peace, and went to pick up the still crying Amza from the ground. _

_ "Come with me, I'll keep you safe." Paragon whispered to her as she curled in his arm._

_ The next four year progressed quickly. After convincing Amza that he was not the cause of __every single misfourtune that occured on that day, he trained her. The only way he knew how to live was the way they did. Constantly traveling, stealing what they need and never talking to others. At her eighteenth birthday, he gave her the dagger that she now weilds. Paragon smiled when he gave her that dagger, as did she._

"Twenty now, all grown up..." Paragon whispered to himself, staring up at the sky.

"Sorry for the outburst, its just a sensitive topic, ya know?" Amza appologized.

"No problem, though, we might want to go get some mroe firewood, this fire is starting to go down, and I'm not staying in the blistering cold of north Skyrim without a fire." Paragon joked. He had spent many a night without a fire, one more wouldn't do him bad.

"We better go then, no splitting up this time though, seems like a bad idea," Amza commented, looking at the now dark forest.

"Scared now? Big Amza don't want to go out into the little forest?" Paragon teased. Imeddiatly afterwards he recieved the expected cuff on the head, and they laughed together. Innocent fun was one of the few pleasures they had left, and for the struggles they knew were ahead, they knew that there would no longer be much time for idle games.


	3. Character Descriptions

Here you will find a description of all characters and a breif explnation of the factions involved. No spoilers, but reading through this will ruin some names and suprises. So only read what you came here to read. (in order of what came first in the story)

**Characters**

**Amza-** 20 years old, medium-length black hair with deep blue eyes. About six feet tall. Usually wears a storm-cloak like leather clothes set, with the blue parts dyed red.

**Paragon-** 23 years old, messy, brown, curly hair with brown eyes. About six and a half feet tall. Wears a theifs guild armor set with a hood, usually down.

**Demage-** At times of refrence, 40 years old. Straight brown hair, brown eyes. Six and three fourths feet tall.

**Amza's father-** At times of refrence, 30 years old. Short black hair, brown eyes.

**Factions**

**Misfits-** Group lead by Paragon and Amza. Main directive is to put together the Barenziah Stones.

**Dwellers-** Group with unknown leader. Directed to stop the gathering of the Barenziah Stones.


End file.
